Disclaimer: This thread is based 110% on my personal experience and opinions that I have gained over the last 5 or so years of playing pump paintball. If you disagree with me, shoot me a pm, and we’ll have an intelligent conversation and see what comes of it. Also, I know you’re out there Kermit, so come at me bro!

So, you’re thinking about playing pump? Need a couple of opinions on the do’s and don’ts, why and why nots of this most honorable style of paintball? Well then you have come to the right place. I am hoping to compile a massive amount of information concerning all things pump paintball. This thread is going to be laid out in an organized manner as such:

· Why is pump fun?

· Basic Definitions

· What is pump Paintball and who plays it?

· What are the two types of pump paintball?

· Equipment for playing pump.

· Do’s and don’ts

· Myths(the advantages and disadvantages)

· Starting up

· Pump manufactures as well as links to their sites

Color Codes:

Disclaimers are in red.

Topics are in bold.Sub topics are in orange.Secondary subtopics are in blue.And edits are in this light purple.

A. Why is pump Fun?

There are many reasons why people consider pump paintball to be extremely fun, and your personal opinion may not be the reason someone else likes to play it. So basically I’ll just list off the reasons I’ve heard over the years and let you come to the conclusion of why you like to play.

1. Saves money. More money equals more play time, which makes people happy.

2. Puts you at a disadvantage. Some people like a challenge, and pump is great for that.

3. More laid back.

4. You like to look intimidating to young and old players alike.

5. Miscellaneous reasons.

For me, the fun comes out of the miscellaneous reasons category. Simply put, I love to play pump because it is just fun for me. All the reasons listed above just go into that reason. I don’t know why I like pump more than semi play, I just do. And if you find yourself to be that way, then more power to you.

B. Basic Definitions:

Sniper: Any autococker style gun that has a pump kit.

12g changer: The part on a gun(most likely Stock Class) that holds your 12g Co2 cartridge.

Auto Trigger: A feature on some guns that allows you keep the trigger depressed so all you have to do to fire the marker is pump it.

C.What is pump paintball and who plays it?

Pump paintball is in fact the original way that paintball was played back when it was first invented. Today, the original concept still remains the same. Any gun that requires you to pump, or cock the marker between each shot is a pump marker. Generally the markers are non-electric(with a few exceptions such as e-gripped pumps). Today, pump is becoming more and more popular, and even has its own division within the NPPL(National ProfessionalPaintball League) , as well as many other various leagues around the country.

But who plays pump paintball? In fact, anyone can play pump paintball. First timers all the way up to seasoned veterans are allowed to play pump. As was stated above, pump is becoming more popular, and the style is starting to see a much higher mix of noobs and vets. It also doesn't matter if you are a woodsball, speedball, or anywhere inbetween player. You can use a pump out on the Xball field just as well as you can use it in the woods.

D.What are the two types of Pump Paintball.

To put it simply, pump paintball can be broken down into two categories. These two classifications are Open Class, and Stock Class. Beloware explanations and examples of both:

Open Class: This is basically a no holds barred class within pump paintball. The guns use any common hopper such as the Halo, Dye Rotor, or WinchesterPocket Hopper. They can also use any style of air system. This includes either HPA or Co2. Generally the air sources come from tanks instead of the 12g Co2 cartridges.There are many open class gun options out there. The most common open class out there today is commonly referred to as a sniper. This is any autococker style gun that has a pump kit attached to it.

Some examples of common Open Class style markers: The CCM S6.5

The Empire Sniper

The PPS Nasty Houndstooth

Check-it V2 classic(Sniper)

Some advantages to Open Class:

1. Generally the pump stroke is smoother when compared to a Stock Class. (This is my experience. It has been recently brought to my attention that this may not be the case, so I need the opinions who have had differing experiences)

2. You can use any tank you want. You don’t need to spend a bunch of money on 12grams.

3. You can carry as much paint as your hopper holds instead of the smaller 20 ball capacity of the Stock Class.

4. You don’t have to “rock and cock” allowing you to stay on target easier between shots.

5. You have a great selection of Open Class markersfrom 50$ all the way up to 1,000$

Some disadvantages to Open Class:

1. Your setup is probably not going to be as tight as a Stock Class. (There are ways to make your setup tighter like the Hawaiian setup)

Stock Class:

Stock class pump paintball follows a much stricter set of rules compared to Open Class. These rules are as follows:

1. Guns may not have a constant air source. This means that you must use 12g Co2 Cartridges.

2. Stock class guns are not allowed to use 12g quick changers. Basically, where the 12g goes has to be threaded so it takes at least one and one half full rotations to remove the changer.

3. The feed tube must be parallel to the bolt.

4. The feed tube can only hold up to 20 paintballs

5. The feed tube may not contain any devise that helps the paintball move towards the breach. Basically this means you have to rock the gun either backwards or forwards to get a ball to load.

6. Auto trigger is not allowed.(I’m a little iffyon this rule)

Those are all of the rules that Iam familiar to achieve a purely Stock Class setup.

Here are a few of the more common Stock Class Guns:

CCI Phantom(Comes in tons ofvariants)

Lapco Grey Ghost

Carter Buzzard

After that, there are other variants to stock class where the rules become more and more lax until you get to Open Class. The two main sub-classes are:

1. Modified Stock:

The rules for a Modified stock class gun say that you may have either a constant air source, or a non stock class feed tube(You can use a hopper) but you may not use both. So you can use either a tank or a hopper, but not both.

Examples of both:

Cockerpunks phuzzard modded Phantom. (Note the tank on the back)

A vert feed phantom. (Notice the vertical feed)

2. Super Stock: Super stock is pretty much the last step before you hit open class. You can have both a constant air source, and a Non-horizontal feed tube. You are also allowed auto triggers, and other modifications.

Here we have a super stock phantom: (notice both the vertical feed hopper as well as the constant air source) At the moment, I cannot find a substantial difference between this and the Open Class format.

Some advantages of Stock Class:

1. You can get a very small, tight setup.

Some disadvantages of Stock Class:

1. Pretty much all of the advantages that you get from Open Class is a disadvantage of Stock Class. By sticking to a purely Stock Class setup you are automatically at a mechanical disadvantage when to compared to almost any other type of gun on the market today.

Here's a great video explaining the the difference. Thank You Kermit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xevOmwKw4f8&feature=player_embedded

Also, there are ways of converting Stock Class guns to Open Class, and vice Versa. PM me if you have any questions concerning specifics.

E. Equipment for Pump Paintball

After buying a gun, you may find yourself wanting more specialized pump equipment. There are many companies that are producing specialized pump equipment. There are also companies that produce equipment that works very well with pump as well. Here is a list of equipment that is made for pump, or works well with it.

Hoppers:

GXG 50 round hopper. This is my favorite pump hopper. Not many people like it because it is very prone to jamming if you have the hopper full. With modification, it feeds very well. The reason I like it is that it is extremely small and makes for a nice small profile.

Winchester Pocket Hopper. If you can find these, they are great hoppers. But unfortunately they are no longer in production.

Extreme Rage 100 round hopper. This is a very nice large hopper. It does provide probably the biggest area to get shot out of the pump hoppers.

Proto Primo. This is one of the greatest inventions for pump players hopper wise. The primo gives a great feed rate, but isn’t excessively bulky or large. Even though it isn’t made specifically for pump players, it works very well.

ViewLoader Revolution. This is one of the most beloved hoppers to ever be used by pump players. It gives a great feed rate, and can be picked up for around 20 dollars. Definitely one of the best values for pump players.

Pods:

There are many different manufactures of 50 round pods for pump players. GXG makes a very good pod, but like I said there are tons of manufactures.

Packs:

If you have 50 round pods, you might wantto pick up a 50 round pod pack. I have never used one so I won’t comment on effectiveness of either pack I list below.

PbMafia 50 round pack:

GXG pack:

F.Do’s and Don’ts

So these are just some basic tips when considering if pump is for you or not, as well as some basic explanationsof each.

Do’s:

1. Try out pump. This is an obvious one. How are you going to know if you like pump or not if you don’t at least give it a try?

2. Start with a low priced marker. After you've tried out pump a couple of times, you might be itching to get your own pump marker. Go for a relatively low priced pump. This ensures that if you buy your own marker only to burn out later, you have made a relatively small investment in order to try out a new style of play.

3. Throw yourself into the mix. By this, all I mean is that you should put yourself into a vast amount of different scenarios when out there on the battlefield. Don’t stick with the semis all the time. Sometimes you gotta test out your abilities and join a rental group taking on more experienced people.(This applies to paintball in general)

4. Try both Stock Class and Open Class. You don’t know which one you’re going to like unless you have time with both. Who know, maybe you’ll like them both equally.

Don’ts:

1. Don’t invest in pump until you have a good idea of whether you really like it or not. By this I mean don’t buy a gun until you have played a couple of times with a pump gun. I didn’t buy my own pump gun until I had been playing for about six months.

2. Do not buy an expensive marker for your first one. Notice that I’ve put this in both the do’s and don’ts. It is imperative that you don’t blow a large chunk of capital only to find out down the road that pump just isn’t for you.

3. Don’t play pump just because you want to be cool. You should have a better reason to play pump other than to look cool or different.

4. Don’t bash semi players for playing something other than pump. Chances are they will mow you down with even more impunity if you do.

G. Myths(Advantages and disadvantages):

Disclaimer: This is a very controversial topic within the pump community. I want to put it out there from the very beginning that I am of the opinion that any advantage you gain through playing pump can be gained also by playing semi. That being said, my opinion is that pump puts you at a disadvantage so that you must focus on the more basic skills to overcome said disadvantage. (How’s that Kermit )

Ok so here we go, a list of myths concerning pump paintball.

1. Pump play will make you a better player. First of all, no style of play will make you better unless you are willing to learn from your mistakes and work on your short comings as a paintball player.

Accuracy:

That being said, pump puts you at a disadvantage that you must overcome to come out victorious. The main disadvantage is your lack of firepower. It can be compared to the firing rate of a sniper rifle versus a machine gun. In the time it takes you to shoot one or two balls, your opponent could have put twenty plus in the air. This plays a large part in developing how accurate you are with your gun. With these firing limitations, you need to learn to put a ball on your target the first time you aim at them. If you can’t, you are going to get taken out by someone that can use the “accuracy through volume” principal. Sooner or later one of the hundreds of balls they shoot at you is going to hit you, so it is imperative that you shoot them first.

Aggressiveness:

The firepower disadvantage comes into play here as well. You cannot lane with a pump gun. You just can’t. This leaves you in a bit of a bind if you try to sit in the back of the game all the time. You’re chances for hitting someone with a pump gun increase dramatically as you go farther up the field. So the logical step is to be as aggressive as you can be and get as close to your targets as you can. Remember, the term “sniper” isn’t even remotely accurate for a paintball gun.

Field awareness:

This can be accomplished just as easily with a semi as it can with a pump, therefore not giving you any advantage.

2. Pump guns are more accurate. This just simply isn't true. All paintball guns on today’s market have the same accuracy. Accuracy has a great deal to do with factors outside of the aspect of the gun.

3. Pump will save you money on paint. Again, this is one of those myths that can be proven false if you have great self-control. Any semi or mech player can one ball the trigger all day and save a considerable amount of paint. However, playing pump, again, puts you at that mechanical disadvantage to where you are literally not able to get on the trigger and put ten plus balls down range every second. Therefore, you generally shoot far less paint.

4. Pump markers hold their value better than semis. In my experience I have found this to be true. Just look at semi guns from 5 years ago. They’ve depreciated well over half if not more from their original prices. Pumps may depreciate, but definitely at such a steep rate as semis.

5. Pump is extremely fun. Fuck yeah it is. End of story.

Those are the major myths that surround pump play. If I’ve missed any, shoot me a pm and if you can convinceme I’ll post it up.

G. Starting Up:

So now is just a brief few steps to start up.Noob:If you are a noob, there is only one thing you need to do, and that is to try pump. Find someone that has a pump, or see if your local field has pumps you can borrow for the day. This is the only thing you need to do as a pump noob.

Beginner:

Now, after you've had a few games under your belt at pump, it's time to reflect on whether or not you like playing pump. If you didn't have fun, no problem. Just stop playing. However, if you did have fun, you're probably ready to make an investment. Remember, you don't want to make a large investment. I'll list some good start up guns below.

3/25/2011: First edit. Added Kermit's video, as well as the first set of definitions. Also went through and changed colors and fixed the error that combined every few words. Finally, posted links to manufactures and other sites that included pump products.3/26/2011: Minor edit. Added explanations of Modified and Super Stock Class, as well as pictures of both. Also made a slight change to advantage #1 of Open Class.4/6/2010: New Section Edit. Added the section Starting up. I'll be adding to this section more and more.4/21/2012: New section Edit. Added the sections Why is pump fun?, and "Equipment for Pump Paintball.

I’ll update this thread occasionally. The next thing to come up will be videos for some of the more important topics. Thanks to Jarz for giving me the mega thread idea. And thanks to Kermit for the awesome video. If you have any questions or suggestions post them up here or shoot me a pm and I will try to reply as quickly as possible.

Great thread its very well organized! Missed something tho...Manufacturer: Remember The Ronin (RTR)

Prease add

IF YOUR UNDER 18 AND PAY FOR YOUR OWN STUFF PUT THIS IN YOUR SIGNATURECoke Club-------Coke is OVER 9000 times better than Pepsi...Stock Class is the shit "Your trust is in whiskey, and weed, and Black Sabbath." -Pantera, Goddamn Electric

IF YOUR UNDER 18 AND PAY FOR YOUR OWN STUFF PUT THIS IN YOUR SIGNATURECoke Club-------Coke is OVER 9000 times better than Pepsi...Stock Class is the shit "Your trust is in whiskey, and weed, and Black Sabbath." -Pantera, Goddamn Electric

Great thread its very well organized! Missed something tho...Manufacturer: Remember The Ronin (RTR)

Prease add

I for the life of me could not remember the name of it. I was like "Is it the gremlin?" No on Google. Then I was like "Is it it the Goblin?" Again, no on Google. So then I was like "Fuck it" true story. I'll add it now to the list. I'm updating it with links and definitions.

the bit about pump stroke on an OC gun being better isnt true. Stick a bucket changer and a cram and jam on a ccm and its still as smooth as an OC ccm

But it still started out as an open class CCM. I'm not trying to argue, but a phantom is not CCM smooth. Just like when you turn a phantom into an OC, it's still not as smooth as my old Check-it classic. Plus I didn't say better, all I said was that generally, it is smoother.That has been my experience between the two.

the bit about pump stroke on an OC gun being better isnt true. Stick a bucket changer and a cram and jam on a ccm and its still as smooth as an OC ccm

But it still started out as an open class CCM. I'm not trying to argue, but a phantom is not CCM smooth. Just like when you turn a phantom into an OC, it's still not as smooth as my old Check-it classic. Plus I didn't say better, all I said was that generally, it is smoother.That has been my experience between the two.

not necessarily...if you order the gun w/o a feedneck or a reg with those parts instead it started as a SC, just saying. And pump stroke is really all in the spring and guide rods

the bit about pump stroke on an OC gun being better isnt true. Stick a bucket changer and a cram and jam on a ccm and its still as smooth as an OC ccm

But it still started out as an open class CCM. I'm not trying to argue, but a phantom is not CCM smooth. Just like when you turn a phantom into an OC, it's still not as smooth as my old Check-it classic. Plus I didn't say better, all I said was that generally, it is smoother.That has been my experience between the two.

not necessarily...if you order the gun w/o a feedneck or a reg with those parts instead it started as a SC, just saying. And pump stroke is really all in the spring and guide rods

Ok, I'll take that into consideration. I really have nothing to compare it to other than my own experience, and I've never shot a ccm that has been ordered Stock Class from the factory. The feedneck really doesn't bother me. It's the reg that I would be interested in.(Updated...somewhat)

add modified stock class

here's a picture if you need one[img]http://www.techpb.com/forum/[IMG]http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff284/silly_surfer/IMG_0140.jpg[/img][/img]

That's what I thought. But I think the main difference between the classification is that Open Class has the ability to use pneumatic assisted pumps. The problem with that is that then every open class gun without pneumatic assists would then fall under the Super Stock format.

That's what I thought. But I think the main difference between the classification is that Open Class has the ability to use pneumatic assisted pumps. The problem with that is that then every open class gun without pneumatic assists would then fall under the Super Stock format.

I for the life of me could not remember the name of it. I was like "Is it the gremlin?" No on Google. Then I was like "Is it it the Goblin?" Again, no on Google. So then I was like "Fuck it" true story. I'll add it now to the list. I'm updating it with links and definitions.

its all good i know exactly what you mean lol i kept finding pictures of the goblin pistol thing

IF YOUR UNDER 18 AND PAY FOR YOUR OWN STUFF PUT THIS IN YOUR SIGNATURECoke Club-------Coke is OVER 9000 times better than Pepsi...Stock Class is the shit "Your trust is in whiskey, and weed, and Black Sabbath." -Pantera, Goddamn Electric

Yeah. I didn't add the picture to the common guns list because it's not a very gun(and I know that's illogical since I put the houndstooth up there), but I added the site to the manufactures list. Hopefully in 4 more weeks I'll have my brand new CCM and a nice shiny video camera so I can do some videos and add them to the thread.

Depends on how competitive you are feeling and how far you go into the tourney. If it's a beginners tournament, I'd say probably two bags, maybe a little more. For a more competitive tournament, I usually go through three bags to a case, plus a little more if we make it to finals.

You should edit this to include modified open class or "Big Texas Style" which involves running a revvy with a 12g changer

Minnesota Ballers ClubMy Youtube!"Dont drink nick,stay in school and dont smoke"- Gordon "Cockerpunk", while smoking and drinking at ll3Im under 18 and pay for all my gear. but i also dont pay heating,water,electrical bills, car,health,home insurance. so props to you guys who have real payments and still play paintball